A former follower of self-styled 'prophet' Samuel Rappylee Bateman has told how the depraved 46-year-old took advantage of his deep-seated Mormon faith and controlled him with a toxic mix of physical, mental and sexual abuse.

So devoted was businessman Moroni Johnson, 51, he allowed scheming Bateman to marry several of his wives and most of his daughters – and funded his lavish lifestyle which included two sprawling homes in Colorado City, Arizona, and a fleet of Bentley cars.

He took part in humiliating rituals on Bateman's orders and was, on one occasion, made to have sex with one of his wives in front of their daughters in order to show them how to 'please' the pervert prophet.

And despite his obedience to the man he believed was 'the voice of God on Earth', Johnson was being lined up for a bizarre ritual called 'blood atonement' that would have ended with his death at the time Bateman was arrested in August.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Johnson said: 'We were taught perfect obedience produces perfect faith. If there is a Supreme Being, wouldn't you want to meet him?

'He [Bateman] preyed on our devotion to scripture.'

Moroni Johnson, 51, was a devoted follower of pervert prophet Samuel Rappylee Bateman, 46, until his arrest. Johnson tells DailyMail.com how depraved Bateman took advantage of his deep-seated Mormon faith and controlled him with mental, physical and sexual abuse

Bateman remains in custody after he was arrested twice earlier this year. He was first apprehended in August after he was caught towing his underaged 'wives' in a trailer in Flagstaff, Arizona 

The self-proclaimed prophet is currently locked up in Florence, Arizona 

Pervert Bateman, 46, is currently in jail in Florence, Arizona, and appeared in court in Phoenix in December to be arraigned on multiple federal charges, among them kidnap and evidence tampering.

Along with wives Donnae Barlow, Naomi Bistline and Moretta Rose Johnson, Bateman is scheduled to go on trial starting January 10 and is facing a possible life sentence.

All four are charged with kidnapping over the removal of eight of nine of Bateman's underage 'wives' from group homes in Phoenix in late November.

Bateman is also facing a second set of child endangerment charges in Arizona after he was caught towing three of his underage wives in a box trailer kitted out with a makeshift toilet through Flagstaff in August.

For Johnson, the impending trial is the latest twist in a story that has seen him lose nearly all that he held dear while dealing with the betrayal of a man in whom he truly believed.

Johnson told DailyMail.com, his faith in Bateman endured even after he had been ordered to hand over his underage daughters – against his wishes – and had been ostracized for a year due to his reluctance to give them up.

An FBI affidavit filed in Spokane reveals his anguish and confusion at having to give up his younger girls but Johnson says he felt he had no choice, telling DailyMail.com: 'He would just see a woman and say 'she's mine'. He co-opted our love for the prophets.'

He added: 'At that point, who was I to question God?'

The scales only fell from his eyes after his first wife, named in court papers as JJ, revealed Bateman had been planning his death – and had wanted to include her in the 'blood atonement' ritual.

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Bateman was living in the Mormon community of Short Creek, where he and his 23 wives lived in two homes – known as the 'blue house' and the 'green house' (pictured) 

Short Creek encompasses Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, and is the former headquarters of the FLDS 

He said: '[JJ] has never told a lie in her life. When she told me that, something turned in me - he would have made her an accomplice to murder.'

Like Bateman, Johnson was raised as a member of the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints – a hardline offshoot of the mainstream LDS church which believes in polygamy.

Bateman is a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and was once a devoted follower of leader Warren Jeffs, 67, who is serving a life sentence for sexually abusing two underage girls

Based in the twin cities of Hilldale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona – collectively known as 'Short Creek' – the FLDS became notorious in 2005 after prophet Warren Jeffs was arrested on accomplice to rape charges.

Jeffs, who amassed 78 wives including scores of underage girls, is currently serving a life sentence in Texas after being convicted of the sexual abuse of two of the minors.

But while Johnson was a respected member of the FLDS community, Bateman – who was kicked out of the church by Jeffs in 2019 – was not.

His father DeLoy is a first cousin of Johnson's and a school science teacher who helped to educate both men. DeLoy eventually renounced the FLDS faith, told his junior wife to leave and is now estranged from his son.

Johnson, by contrast, comes from a family that has produced FLDS prophets – among them his grandfather LeRoy.

An athlete and a hard worker, he set up a construction business and married first wife JJ when she was 20 and he 24 – the couple went on to have five daughters.

Later, he married a second wife – named as PB in court papers – and later took several of her daughters as his wives too; among them AB with whom he has two teen daughters and ZB who is the mother of an 18-month-old baby.

The family later moved from Utah to Lincoln, Nebraska, where they lived a happy life – a contentment that was shattered when Bateman came into their lives.

Until 2019, Bateman had been married to one woman – 43-year-old Lydia with whom he had five children, four sons and daughter who is now 17.

He had spent most of his life scraping a living, with his biggest claim to fame arising when he appeared in the Salt Lake City Tribune – photographed attending Jeffs' 2006 trial on accomplice to rape charges in St George, Utah.

Somewhere between 2007 and 2019, Bateman decided Jeffs was no longer the FLDS prophet and that he was the true conduit to God – proclaiming himself a prophet to an unimpressed Lydia.

More seriously, he also laid claim to their teenage daughter – bribing her with $50, two large bags of Doritos and the promise of an airplane ride were she to become his wife.

It was too much for Lydia who told Bateman the girl 'was not and would never be' his wife, took their daughter and left – eventually filing for divorce and negotiating a custody agreement that banned Bateman from having any contact with the girl.

Due to his behavior, Bateman was kicked out of the FLDS by Jeffs in an order handed down from prison, and sank into despair – eventually moving to Nebraska where he begged Johnson, a former employer, for help.

An exclusive DailyMail.com photo shows Bateman waving from the front seat of one of the Bentley Flying Spurs – which cost more than $200,000 new

Two of Bateman's many wives Naomi Bistline and Donnae Barlow were seen arriving at the federal courthouse in Flagstaff on December 7

Some of Bateman's wives appear in police bodycam footage of his August arrest, when authorities found them traveling with underage girls whom he counted among his wives 

Family and followers of Bateman gather around as he calls from police custody following his arrest in Colorado City on September 13

Johnson said: 'Sam was from an unpopular family and he had had alcohol problems in his youth. When he walked in, I thought he fit the description of the worst possible employee – someone you'd never want to hire. That was him.'

Bateman also failed to mention he had been kicked out of the FLDS – by the time he did, it was too late for Johnson who had become one of his small but growing band of 'Samuelites'.

Johnson says Bateman preyed on his family's religious beliefs – one of which includes the FLDS belief that their religion produces prophets who become the voice of God on Earth.

He believes Bateman targeted his family due to their standing in the community – he would often speak of having a vendetta against 'royalty' – and began humiliating him, first by giving him the silent treatment and ignoring him when he asked how he had upset him.

Next, he began to demand wives from among Johnson's daughters – beginning with his three eldest, including Moretta who is currently languishing in jail.

Johnson believes Bateman involved Moretta in his plan to take his nine underage wives from group homes in Phoenix to humiliate him further – and he is distraught over the kidnapping charges she faces, which could see her jailed for 20 years.

As Bateman's behavior became more outlandish, he took more wives from Johnson's family – his two younger daughters, now 16 and 13, with JJ and his own wife AB and their two daughters now aged 14 and 12.

He also took three more of Johnson's wives – two women known as AB and BB in the court papers and Donnae Barlow, a stepdaughter turned wife of Johnson's who is now in jail in Flagstaff for her part in the underage wives' escape.

Johnson tells how in 2020 he was forced to have sex with his wife in front of their daughters in order to show them how to 'please' Bateman

Further humiliations came: a specious rite dubbed 'the Binding of Brothers' that saw a drunken Bateman sexually assault Johnson in front of his family and the leak of an audio tape in which Johnson was coerced into saying he would give up his wives to Bateman.

Bateman refused to ask for the video to be taken down from YouTube, despite Johnson receiving a barrage of abuse online after it was published.

On top of that, Bateman also insisted his followers give embarrassing confessions that he would then share publicly.

Bateman's other followers were also made to give up their families and take part in rituals: LaDell Bistline Jr, 47, handed over his wife of 20 years and their teen daughters, while both he and brother Torrance, 34, were ordered to have sex with Bateman's underage wives.

On one occasion, named the Atonement by Bateman, Torrance had anal sex with one of Johnson's stepdaughters who was then just 13.

For Johnson, the situation got worse when Bateman began kissing the hand of his 18-month-old daughter in the same way he kissed the hands of his other wives – the implied threat being he would take her too.

As time went on, Bateman would profess to be annoyed with Johnson – gradually ostracizing him and telling him he wasn't worthy, among other things, to ride in his Bentleys.

One day he flew into a rage when Johnson and Torrance began singing a popular song entitled Largo which he describes as 'a prayer within a song'.

Johnson said: 'He said, who is singing there? He said, I'm sitting in the room with the ladies and every one of them was stirred by it. That is wicked.'

By the time Bateman was arrested in August, Johnson had been ostracized for almost a year – unable to speak to his daughters but still controlled by Bateman who continued to demand money.

The blue house was home to Bateman's followers. Wives who were being 'corrected' were sent to live with Moroni's daughters Moretta Johnson and the Bistline brothers at the blue house

The lengthy punishment came after a meeting in which Bateman said Johnson had committed 11 sins – one of which was an attempt to protect his young daughters and another a 'failure to treat him like a prophet' by objecting to his designs on his youngest children.

Moroni said: 'I lay with my face on the floor at his feet and wept because I thought I had displeased God. It wasn't because he told me to but because I thought I had done wrong.'

Had Bateman not been arrested when he was, Johnson believes he could have ended up dead – with the self-styled prophet planning to target him for 'blood atonement'.

After wife JJ confronted him with Bateman's plans, she then convinced him to begin helping the FBI – despite him having refused to speak to agents when they first approached him.

He said of the first approach: 'I honestly thought they were going to take me away. I didn't touch any juveniles but I witnessed it.'

Johnson is now trying rebuild his life in the shadow of the investigation – and despite knowing he too could face charges for his part in Bateman's schemes.

He spent Thanksgiving with JJ and their four sons and is hoping to have his daughters returned to JJ – who is living separately from Johnson in the hopes of showing Child Protective Services she can give them a safe home.

Johnson is rueful when asked how he feels about Bateman and his role in his cult now. He told DailyMail.com: 'I didn't set out to hurt anybody but how do you stop a freight train?'

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